


Raising Sarah

by dannihowell (iguessicantry)



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-30
Updated: 2016-07-30
Packaged: 2018-07-27 17:04:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7626772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iguessicantry/pseuds/dannihowell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The five times Dan gave advice, and the one time he didn’t.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Raising Sarah

1\. “Make sure you hold her head.”

Phil ignores him. Dan’s a little overzealous about Phil holding his newborn daughter. The fact that Phil is extraordinarily clumsy does not help at all.

“I don’t need your help,” Phil chuckles. “I can hold my own daughter.”

Phil’s wife, Rachel, watches the scene happily and completely exhausted. Dan’s going to be a great godfather to Baby Lester. He’s been there since the time of conception—literally. They really should have locked the door completely so at least they could have heard him knock before interrupting them.

“You are literally the last person who should be holding her. Gimme.”

Rolling his eyes, Phil gently passes the infant to his friend.  

As soon as she’s in his arm comfortable, the baby girl looks up Dan with curious but probably blurry eyes. “Hello,” he says in a soft cooing voice. “I’m Uncle Dan. I know it sounds creepy but we’ll all get used to it, won’t we? Yeah, we will.”

Meanwhile, Phil’s helping Rachel sit up and handing her a cup of water as requested. When she’s comfortable, she says, “We need to name her.”

“You guys still haven’t figured that out yet?” Dan laughs softly, as not to disturb his precious goddaughter.

Rachel sighs with a smile and replies, “He insists that we name her ‘Buffy’. It’s not going to happen.”

“What about Sarah Michelle?” Dan says jokingly.

Phil’s face lights up. Rachel shakes her head no.

“Sarah Danielle?” Phil suggests. Dan’s eyes go wide and he’s already shaking his head no. “Why not? You’re my best friend.”

“What if she doesn’t like it and she blames me for it?” Dan asks.

Rachel laughs at that. “Don’t worry. She’ll blame me. I’m writing it on the birth certificate. It’s a pretty name and we’re all happy about it.”

With everyone on board with the name, Dan takes Sarah over to the window to take a look at the setting sun. While she staring at him, he’s staring back with the widest grin on his face. He’s already in love. Before he knows it, she’s asleep, as is her mother. Phil places his daughter in her bassinet. Dan leaves the family to be alone.

—-

2\. “Cry if you need to. I think you should.”

The funeral was over a week ago and Phil hasn’t cried. Sarah’s too small to know what death is but she knows that her mummy hasn’t come home in a long time.

“I have Sarah to think about. I can’t just break down.”

“I’ll help you. You need to let it out.”

“It still hasn’t hit me. How—how did it happen?”

“I don’t know, Phil.”

“I’m so angry and there’s nothing I can do.”

“Slap me.”

“What?” Phil looks up to see his best friend’s serious expression.

“Slap me. You need to let this out. Hit me. Cry. Yell. Scream. Do something.”

A sob erupts from Phil’s mouth. His head falls on Dan’s shoulder.

“It’s okay,” Dan reassures him comfortingly.

“I’m crying because you’re so stupid.”

“Whatever you need to tell yourself,” Dan says with a smile in his voice.

They sit there on the stairs until Sarah wakes from her midday nap with a cry. Dan’s the one who gets up first to tend to her. He cries a few more times that day, and in the days after. With Dan’s help, Phil is able to make it through the grief.

—-

3\. “Put a comma there.”

Sarah sighs.

“It’s perfect now,” Dan smiles at her. “Go on. Read it.”

Sarah stands up and begins to recite her essay about someone important in her life. It’s titled ‘My Father, The YouTube Guy.’ The words flow from her mouth lyrically and she even pauses in the right spots. She’s always been a good reader and wonderfully charismatic. Phil likes to blame Dan for her love of theater. At ten, she’s absolutely brilliant. At least, she is in Dan’s eyes.

He claps when she’s finished, assuring her an A on the assignment. Phil’s gone out to run a few errands so Sarah and Dan have the afternoon together.

She has Phil’s eyes and ears and her mother’s mouth and expressions. Her hair is a complete mess of waves and curls, a dirty blonde.

“Uncle Dan?” She joins him on the sofa, and curls into his side. “Can you tell me about her?”

“Who?” His eyebrows are pursed. Oh. “Oh. Mum, right?” She nods. “Okay. Well, her name was Rachel and she hated it when people called her Rache. Ray was okay if—“

“You bought her a cup of coffee,” Sarah finished.

“Right,” Dan laughs. “She met your dad on a—“

“Rainy day.”

“And he knew he was going to marry her when she jokingly said—“

“I’d rather have cats than Wi-Fi.”

“Yeah. She was funny, your mum. She had a good sense of humor, especially to marry a man like your father. But, she loved him. And…”

“She loved me.”

—-

4\. “We should tell her before she finds out.”

Dan’s legs are tangled up in Phil’s sheets and his fingers are in Phil’s hair.

“Good idea,” Phil yawns. “After we take a nap though.”

“I gotta go,” Dan pouts. “I don’t want her to see me leaving your room half dressed.”

Phil nods but pulls Dan closer anyway. “I love you. I should have said it sooner but I have for a long time.”

“I know.”

Dan finds his clothes scattered at the foot of the bed. He opens the door as quietly as possible before peeking into the hallway. The coast is clear.

By breakfast, things become awkward. Phil wants to touch Dan but he can’t. Dan keeps blushing and smiling over his toast.

“What is wrong with you two?” Sarah asks. “You’re acting like Zach and Renee, totally in love all the bloody time. Next, you’ll be holding hands at the cinema like them.”

“We have something to tell you,” Phil begins, sitting down at the table with his daughter and boyfriend. Boyfriend?

Dan coughs and sits up a little straight. “Your father and I are seeing one another. We think you are old enough to handle the truth.”

“How long have you…?”

“About three months or so,” Phil answers. “Are you upset?”

“No,” Sarah shakes her head, still looking at the plate of waffles in front of her. “What about mum?”

“Yes?” Phil encourages. Dan remains silent.

“Didn’t you love her?”

“I still do. I love you too, and I love Dan.”

The thirteen-year-old shifts in her chair. “Is that why you never got married, Uncle Dan? Because you were in love with Daddy?”

Dan still doesn’t know what. There is a little truth in her questions. After Rachel died, and he took over as the second parent, there never seemed to be any reason to leave. Everyone he loves is all under one roof. “A little. He’s always been my best friend.”

“What do you think, Sarah?” asks Phil.

“I’m scared,” she admits. “What if you break up? I don’t want you to get a divorce or share custody. Two Christmases would be cool but I—“

“Hold on. We’re not even married and you’re already thinking about divorce. Give me a little credit, I can be a good boyfriend at least,” says Phil.

“Yeah, we’ve practically been married all this time.”

“We’ll try to make this as easy as possible. We don’t want to hurt you,” Phil added.

“I know. It’s not that big of a deal. Everyone says you look like a gay couple anyway,”

“Yeah, like who?” asks Dan.

Sarah pulls out her phone and begins to list a series of usernames that all feature the word ‘phan’ in it.

“Oh god!” Dan exclaims. “I forgot about them. I’ve been so worried about Sarah.”

She smiles. “I’m glad your priorities are straight. Do I still call you Uncle Dan?”

—-

5\. “Never take nudes.”

Sarah looks up from the notecard and faces the viewfinder. “Is there are a story behind that one, Dad?”

Dan takes a deep breath. “Just… it’s never a good idea and there’s hardly ever a good outcome. Those things get in the wrong hands and follow you around. Your future bosses could find them and—just don’t, okay?”

Sarah raises her brow. At fifteen, she’s started her own channel called SarahSays. It’s very similar to Dan’s and Phil’s channels. She shares anecdotes and performs sketches. They’re funny and she’s already gained quite a following.

“Okay. Next question: Do you want any more kids?”

“You were more than enough.”

“No. I think what you mean to say is, ‘You can’t get better than your best.’”

“Sure…” Dan chuckles, rolling his eyes.

“Who is your YouTube crush? Oh, and I already asked Dad and he says you won’t get in trouble if you don’t say him.”

“Really?” Dan asks. “Great. I would still have to say Finn Harries, even after all these years.”

“Oh my God. Yes!”

“Hey! You’re like twenty years younger than him. You stop that.”

“But that’s not fair! Beauty like that knows no bounds,” Sarah says poetically, clutching at her heart. “Everyone is going to write in the comments that I am right.”

Dan points his finger at the camera warningly. “You’re all babies. Stop it!”

—-

1\. “He’s already asleep. You’re going to be a great mum.”

His baby’s just had a baby. Dan watches alongside Phil as Sarah looks over her sleeping child. She already looks so natural, as if she’s had years of practice. Her boyfriend, Nathan, stands over the two of them, smiling and cooing.

The two men take a step back from the parenting roles and slip into their grandparenting roles; only doing the fun things. Dan’s given a lifetime of advice for Sarah’s sake. It’s moments like these, the ones where he can step back to just watch, that remind that he was a good parent and an amazing friend.

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on tumblr  
> [dannihowell](https://danni-howell.tumblr.com/)


End file.
